Chapter V · NITROGEN AND AIR

Gaseous nitrogen forms about four-fifths (by volume) of the atmosphere; consequently the air contains an exceedingly large mass of it. Whilst entering in so considerable a quantity into the composition of air, nitrogen does not seem to play any active part in the atmosphere, the chemical action of which is mainly dependent on the oxygen it contains. But this is not an entirely correct idea, because animal life cannot exist in pure oxygen, in which animals pass into an abnormal state and die; and the nitrogen of the air, although slowly, forms diverse compounds, many of which play a most important part in nature, especially in the life of organisms. However, neither plants[1] nor animals directly absorb the nitrogen of the air, but take it up from already prepared nitrogenous compounds; further, plants are nourished by the nitrogenous substances contained in the soil and water, and animals by the nitrogenous substances contained in plants and in other animals. Atmospheric electricity is capable of aiding the passage of gaseous nitrogen into nitrogenous compounds, as we shall afterwards see, and the resultant substances are carried to the soil by rain, where they serve for the nourishment of plants. Plentiful harvests, fine crops of hay, vigorous growth of trees—other conditions being equal—are only obtained when the soil contains ready prepared nitrogenous compounds, consisting either of those which occur in air and water, or of the residues of the decomposition of other plants or animals (as in manure). The nitrogenous substances contained in animals have their origin in those substances which are formed in plants. Thus the nitrogen of the atmosphere is the origin of all the nitrogenous substances occurring in animals and plants, although not directly so, but after first combining with the other elements of air.

The nitrogenous compounds which enter into the composition of plants and animals are of primary importance; no vegetable or animal cell—that is, the elementary form of organism—exists without containing a nitrogenous substance, and moreover organic life manifests itself primarily in these nitrogenous substances. The germs, seeds, and those parts by which cells multiply themselves abound in nitrogenous substances; the sum total of the phenomena which are proper to organisms depend primarily on the chemical properties of the nitrogenous substances which enter into their composition. It will be sufficient, for instance, to point out the fact that vegetable and animal organisms, clearly distinguishable as such, are characterised by a different degree of energy in their nature, and at the same time by a difference in the amount of nitrogenous substances they contain. In plants, which compared with animals possess but little activity, being incapable of independent movement, &c., the amount of nitrogen is very much less than in animals, whose tissues are almost exclusively formed of nitrogenous substances. It is remarkable that the nitrogenous parts of plants, chiefly of the lower orders, sometimes present both forms and properties which approach to those of animal organisms; for example, the zoospores of sea-weeds, or those parts by means of which the latter multiply themselves. These zoospores on leaving the sea-weed in many respects resemble the lower orders of animal life, having, like the latter, the property of moving. They also approach the animal kingdom in their composition, their outer coating containing nitrogenous matter. Directly the zoospore becomes covered with that non-nitrogenous or cellular coating which is proper to all the ordinary cells of plants, it loses all resemblance to an animal organism and becomes a small plant. It may be thought from this that the cause of the difference in the vital processes of animals and plants is the different amount of nitrogenous substances they contain. The nitrogenous substances which occur in plants and animals appertain to a series of exceedingly complex and very changeable chemical compounds; their elementary composition alone shows this; besides nitrogen, they contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and sulphur. Being distinguished by a very great instability under many conditions in which other compounds remain unchanged, these substances are fitted for those perpetual changes which form the first condition of vital activity. These complex and changeable nitrogenous substances of the organism are called proteïd substances. The white of eggs is a familiar example of such a substance. They are also contained in the flesh of animals, the curdy elements of milk, the glutinous matter of wheaten flour, or so-called gluten, which forms the chief component of macaroni, &c.

Nitrogen occurs in the earth's crust, in compounds either forming the remains of plants and animals, or derived from the nitrogen of the atmosphere as a consequence of its combination with the other component parts of the air. It is not found in other forms in the earth's crust; so that nitrogen must be considered, in contradistinction to oxygen, as an element which is purely superficial, and does not extend to the depths of the earth.[1 bis]

Nitrogen is liberated in a free state in the decomposition of the nitrogenous organic substances entering into the composition of organisms—for instance, on their combustion. All organic substances burn when heated to redness with oxygen (or substances readily yielding it, such as oxide of copper); the oxygen combines with the carbon, sulphur, and hydrogen, and the nitrogen is evolved in a free state, because at a high temperature it does not form any stable compound, but remains uncombined. Carbonic anhydride and water are formed from the carbon and hydrogen respectively, and therefore to obtain pure nitrogen it is necessary to remove the carbonic anhydride from the gaseous products obtained. This may be done very easily by the action of alkalis—for instance, caustic soda. The amount of nitrogen in organic substances is determined by a method founded on this.

It is also very easy to obtain nitrogen from air, because oxygen combines with many substances. Either phosphorus or metallic copper is usually employed for removing the oxygen from air, but, naturally, a number of other substances may also be used. If a small saucer on which a piece of phosphorus is laid be placed on a cork floating on water, and the phosphorus be lighted, and the whole covered with a glass bell jar, then the air under the jar will be deprived of its oxygen, and nitrogen only will remain, owing to which, on cooling, the water will rise to a certain extent in the bell jar. The same object (procuring nitrogen from air) is attained much more conveniently and perfectly by passing air through a red-hot tube containing copper filings. At a red heat, metallic copper combines with oxygen and gives a black powder of copper oxide. If the layer of copper be sufficiently long and the current of air slow, all the oxygen will be absorbed, and nitrogen alone will pass from the tube.[2]

Nitrogen may also be procured from many of its compounds with oxygen[3] and hydrogen,[4] but the best fitted for this purpose is a saline mixture containing, on the one hand, a compound of nitrogen with oxygen, termed nitrous anhydride, N₂O₃, and on the other hand, ammonia, NH₃—that is, a compound of nitrogen with hydrogen. By heating such a mixture, the oxygen of the nitrous anhydride combines with the hydrogen of the ammonia, forming water, and gaseous nitrogen is evolved, 2NH₃ + N₂O₃ = 3H₂O + N₄. Nitrogen is procured by this method in the following manner:—A solution of caustic potash is saturated with nitrous anhydride, by which means potassium nitrite is formed. On the other hand, a solution of hydrochloric acid saturated with ammonia is prepared; a saline substance called sal-ammoniac, NH₄Cl, is thus formed in the solution. The two solutions thus prepared are mixed together and heated. Reaction takes place according to the equation KNO₂ + NH₄Cl = KCl + 2H₂O + N₂. This reaction proceeds in virtue of the fact that potassium nitrite and ammonium chloride are salts which, on interchanging their metals, give potassium chloride and ammonium nitrite, NH₄NO₂, which breaks up into water and nitrogen. This reaction does not take place without the aid of heat, but it proceeds very easily at a moderate temperature. Of the resultant substances, the nitrogen only is gaseous. Pure nitrogen may be obtained by drying the resultant gas and passing it through a solution of sulphuric acid (to absorb a certain quantity of ammonia which is evolved in the reaction).[4 bis]

Nitrogen is a gaseous substance which does not differ much in physical properties from air; its density, referred to hydrogen, is approximately equal to 14—that is, it is slightly lighter than air, its density referred to air being 0·972; one litre of nitrogen weighs 1·257 gram. Nitrogen mixed with oxygen, which is slightly heavier than air, forms air. It is a gas which, like oxygen and hydrogen, is liquefied with difficulty, and is but little soluble in water and other liquids. Its absolute boiling point[5] is about -140°; above this temperature it is not liquefiable by pressure, and at lower temperatures it remains a gas at a pressure of 50 atmospheres. Liquid nitrogen boils at -193°, so that it may be employed as a source of great cold. At about -203°, in vaporising under a decrease of pressure, nitrogen solidifies into a colourless snow-like mass. Nitrogen does not burn,[5 bis] does not support combustion, is not absorbed by any of the reagents used in gas analysis, at least at the ordinary temperature—in a word, it presents a whole series of negative chemical properties; this is expressed by saying that this element has no energy for combination. Although it is capable of forming compounds both with oxygen and hydrogen as well as with carbon, yet these compounds are only formed under particular circumstances, to which we will directly turn our attention. At a red heat nitrogen combines with boron, titanium, and silicon, barium, magnesium, &c., forming very stable nitrogenous compounds,[6] whose properties are entirely different from those of nitrogen with hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. However, the combination of nitrogen with carbon, although it does not take place directly between the elements at a red heat, yet proceeds with comparative ease by heating a mixture of charcoal with an alkaline carbonate, especially potassium carbonate or barium carbonate, to redness, carbo-nitrides or cyanides of the metals being formed; for instance, K₂CO₃ + 4C + N₂ = 2KCN + 3CO.[7]

Nitrogen is found with oxygen in the air, but they do not readily combine. Cavendish, however, in the last century, showed that nitrogen combines with oxygen under the influence of a series of electric sparks. Electric sparks in passing through a moist[8] mixture of nitrogen and oxygen cause these elements to combine, forming reddish-brown fumes of oxides of nitrogen,[9] which form nitric acid,[10] NHO₃. The presence of the latter is easily recognised, not only from its reddening litmus paper, but also from its acting as a powerful oxidiser even of mercury. Conditions similar to these occur in nature, during a thunderstorm or in other electrical discharges which take place in the atmosphere; whence it may be taken for granted that air and rain-water always contain traces of nitric and nitrous acids.[11] Besides which Crookes (1892) showed that under certain circumstances and when electricity of high potential[11 bis] passes through the air, the combination of nitrogen with oxygen is accompanied by the formation of a true flame. This was also observed previously (1880) during the passage of electrical discharges through the air.

Further observations showed that under the influence of electrical discharges,[12] silent as well as with sparks, nitrogen is able to enter into many reactions with hydrogen and with many hydrocarbons; although these reactions cannot be effected by exposure to a red heat. Thus, for instance, a series of electric sparks passed through a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen causes them to combine and form ammonia[13] or nitrogen hydride, NH₃, composed of one volume of nitrogen and three volumes of hydrogen. This combination is limited to the formation of 6 per cent. of ammonia, because ammonia is decomposed, although not entirely ( 94 / 100 ) by electric sparks. This signifies that under the influence of an electrical discharge the reaction NH₃ = N + 3H is reversible, consequently it is a dissociation, and in it a state of equilibrium is arrived at. The equilibrium may be destroyed by the addition of gaseous hydrochloric acid, HCl, because with ammonia it forms a solid saline compound, sal-ammoniac, NH₄Cl, which (being formed from a gaseous mixture of 3H, N, and HCl) fixes the ammonia. The remaining mass of nitrogen and hydrogen, under the action of the sparks, again forms ammonia, and in this manner solid sal-ammoniac is obtained to the end by the action of a series of electric sparks on a mixture of gaseous N, H₃, and HCl.[14] Berthelot (1876) showed that under the action of a silent discharge many non-nitrogenous organic substances (benzene, C₆H₆, cellulose in the form of paper, resin, glucose, C₆H₁₀O₅, and others) absorb nitrogen and form complex nitrogenous compounds, which are capable, like albuminous substances, of evolving their nitrogen as ammonia when heated with alkalis.[15]

By such indirect methods does the gaseous nitrogen of the atmosphere yield its primary compounds, in which form it enters into plants, and is elaborated in them into complex albuminous substances.[15 bis] But, starting from a given compound of nitrogen with hydrogen or oxygen, we may, without the aid of organisms, obtain, as will afterwards be partially indicated, most diverse and complex nitrogenous substances, which cannot by any means be formed directly from gaseous nitrogen. In this we see an example not only of the difference between an element in the free state and an intrinsic element, but also of those circuitous or indirect methods by which substances are formed in nature. The discovery, prognostication, and, in general, the study of such indirect methods of the preparation and formation of substances forms one of the existing problems of chemistry. From the fact that A does not act at all on B, it must not be concluded that a compound AB is not to be formed. The substances A and B contain atoms which occur in AB, but their state or the nature of their motion may not be at all that which is required for the formation of AB, and in this substance the chemical state of the elements may be as different as the state of the atoms of oxygen in ozone and in water. Thus free nitrogen is inactive; but in its compounds it very easily enters into changes and is distinguished by great activity. An acquaintance with the compounds of nitrogen confirms this. But, before entering on this subject, let us consider air as a mass containing free nitrogen.

Judging from what has been already stated, it will be evident that atmospheric air[16] contains a mixture of several gases and vapours. Some of them are met with in it in nearly constant proportions, whilst others, on the contrary, are very variable in their amount. The chief component parts of air, placed in the order of their relative amounts, are the following: nitrogen,[16 bis] oxygen, aqueous vapour, carbonic anhydride, nitric acid, salts of ammonia, oxides of nitrogen, and also ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and complex organic nitrogenous substances. Besides these, air generally contains water, as spray, drops, and snow, and particles of solids, perhaps of cosmic origin in certain instances, but in the majority of cases proceeding from the mechanical translation of solid particles from one locality to another by the wind. These small solid and liquid particles (having a large surface in proportion to their weight) are suspended in air as solid matter is suspended in turbid water; they often settle on the surface of the earth, but the air is never entirely free from them because they are never in a state of complete rest. Then, air not unfrequently contains incidental traces of various substances as everyone knows by experience. These incidental substances sometimes belong to the order of those which act injuriously, the germs of lower organisms—for instance of moulds—and the class of carriers of infectious diseases.

In the air of the various countries of the earth, at different longitudes and at different altitudes above its surface, on the ocean or on the dry land—in a word, in the air of most diverse localities of the earth—the oxygen and nitrogen are found everywhere to be in a constant ratio. This is, moreover, self-evident from the fact that the air constantly diffuses (intermixes by virtue of the internal motion of the gaseous particles) and is also put into motion and intermixed by the wind, by which processes it is equalised in its composition over the entire surface of the earth. In those localities where the air is subject to change, and is in a more or less enclosed space, or, at any rate, in an unventilated space, it may alter very considerably in its composition. For this reason the air in dwellings, cellars, and wells, in which there are substances absorbing oxygen, contains less of this gas, whilst the air on the surface of standing water, which abounds in the lower orders of plant life evolving oxygen, contains an excess of this gas.[17] The constant composition of air over the whole surface of the earth has been proved by a number of most careful researches.[18]

The analysis of air is effected by converting the oxygen into a non-gaseous compound, so as to separate it from the air. The original volume of the air is first measured, and then the volume of the remaining nitrogen. The quantity of oxygen is calculated either from the difference between these volumes or by the weight of the oxygen compound formed. All the volumetric measurements have to be corrected for pressure, temperature, and moisture (Chapters I. and II.) The medium employed for converting the oxygen into a non-gaseous substance should enable it to be taken up from the nitrogen to the very end without evolving any gaseous substance. So, for instance,[19] a mixture of pyrogallol, C₆H₆O₃, with a solution of a caustic alkali absorbs oxygen with great ease at the ordinary temperature (the solution turns black), but it is unsuited for accurate analysis because it requires an aqueous solution of an alkali, and it alters the composition of the air by acting on it as a solvent.[20] However, for approximate determinations this simple method gives results which are entirely satisfactory.

The determinations in a eudiometer (Chapter III.) give more exact results, if all the necessary corrections for changes of pressure, temperature, and moisture be taken into account. This determination is carried out essentially as follows:—A certain amount of air is introduced into the eudiometer, and its volume is determined. About an equal volume of dry hydrogen is then passed into the eudiometer, and the volume again determined. The mixture is then exploded, in the way described for the determination of the composition of water. The remaining volume of the gaseous mixture is again measured; it will be less than the second of the previously measured volumes. Out of three volumes which have disappeared, one belonged to the oxygen and two to the hydrogen, consequently one-third of the loss of volume indicates the amount of oxygen contained in the air.[21]

The most complete method for the analysis of air, and one which is accompanied by the least amount of error, consists in the direct weighing, as far as is possible, of the oxygen, nitrogen, water, and carbonic anhydride contained in it. For this purpose the air is first passed through an apparatus for retaining the moisture and carbonic anhydride (which will be considered presently), and is then led through a tube which contains shavings of metallic copper and has been previously weighed. A long layer of such copper heated to redness absorbs all the oxygen from the air, and leaves pure nitrogen, whose weight must be determined. This is done by collecting it in a weighed and exhausted globe, while the amount by weight of oxygen is shown by the increase in weight of the tube with the copper after the experiment.

Fig. 38.—Dumas and Boussingault's apparatus for the analysis of air by weight. The globe B contains 10–15 litres. The air is first pumped out of it, and it is weighed empty. The tube T connected with it is filled with copper, and is weighed empty of air. It is heated in a charcoal furnace. When the copper has become red-hot, the stopcock r (near R) is slightly opened, and the air passes through the vessels L, containing a solution of potash, f, containing solutions and pieces of caustic potash, which remove the carbonic anhydride from the air, and then through o and t, containing sulphuric acid (which has been previously boiled to expel dissolved air) and pumice-stone, which removes the moisture from the air. The pure air then gives up its oxygen to the copper in T. When the air passes into T the stopcock R of the globe B is opened, and it becomes filled with nitrogen. When the air ceases to flow in, the stopcocks are closed, and the globe B and tube T weighed. The nitrogen is then pumped out of the tube and it is weighed again. The increase in weight of the tube shows the amount of oxygen, and the difference of the second and third weighings of the tube, with the increase in weight of the globe, gives the weight of the nitrogen.

Air free from moisture and carbonic anhydride[22] contains 20·95 to 20·88[23] parts by volume of oxygen; the mean amount of oxygen will therefore be 20·92 ± 0·05 per cent. Taking the density of air = 1 and of oxygen = 1·105 and nitrogen 0·972 the composition of air by weight will be 23·12 per cent. of oxygen and 76·88 per cent. of nitrogen.[24]

Fig. 39.—Apparatus for the absorption and washing of gases, known as Liebig's bulbs. The gas enters m, presses on the absorptive liquid, and passes from m into b, c, d, and e consecutively, and escapes through f.

Fig. 40.—Geisler's potash bulbs. The gas enters at a, and passes through a solution of potash in the lower bulbs, where the carbonic anhydride is absorbed, and the gas escapes from b. The lower bulbs are arranged in a triangle, so that the apparatus can stand without support.

Fig. 41.—Tube for the absorption of carbonic acid. A plug of cotton wool is placed in the bulb to prevent the powder of soda-lime being carried off by the gas. The tube contains soda-lime and chloride of calcium.

The possibility of the composition of air being altered by the mere action of a solvent very clearly shows that the component parts of air are in a state of mixture, in which any gases may occur; they do not in this case form a definite compound, although the composition of the atmosphere does appear constant under ordinary conditions. The fact that its composition varies under different conditions confirms the truth of this conclusion, and therefore the constancy of the composition of air must not be considered as in any way dependent on the nature of the gases entering into its composition, but only as proceeding from cosmic phenomena co-operating towards this constancy. It must be admitted, therefore, that the processes evolving oxygen, and chiefly the processes of the respiration of plants, are of equal force with those processes which absorb oxygen over the entire surface of the earth.[25]

Air always contains more or less moisture[26] and carbonic anhydride produced by the respiration of animals and the combustion of carbon and carboniferous compounds. The latter shows the properties of an acid anhydride. In order to determine the amount of carbonic anhydride in air, substances are employed which absorb it—namely, alkalis either in solution or solid. A solution of caustic potash, KHO, is poured into light glass vessels, through which the air is passed, and the amount of carbonic anhydride is determined by the increase in weight of the vessel. But it is best to take a solid porous alkaline mass such as soda-lime.[27] With a slow current of air a layer of soda-lime 20 cm. in length is sufficient to completely deprive 1 cubic metre of air of the carbonic anhydride it contains. A series of tubes containing calcium chloride for absorbing the moisture[28] is placed before the apparatus for the absorption of the carbonic anhydride, and a measured mass of air is passed through the whole apparatus by means of an aspirator. In this manner the determination of the moisture is combined with the absorption of the carbonic anhydride. The arrangement shown in fig. 38 is such a combination.

The amount of carbonic anhydride[29] in free air is incomparably more constant than the amount of moisture. The average amount in 100 volumes of dry air is approximately 0·03 volume—that is, 10,000 volumes of air contain about three volumes of carbonic anhydride, most frequently about 2·95 volumes. As the specific gravity of carbonic anhydride referred to air = 1·52, it follows that 100 parts by weight of air contain 0·045 part by weight of carbonic anhydride. This quantity varies according to the time of year (more in winter), the altitude above the level of the sea (less at high altitudes), the proximity to forests and fields (less) or cities (greater), &c. But the variation is small and rarely exceeds the limits of 2½ to 4 ten-thousandths by volume.[30] As there are many natural local influences which either increase the amount of carbonic anhydride in the air (respiration, combustion, decomposition, volcanic eruptions, &c.), or diminish it (absorption by plants and water), the reason of the great constancy in the amount of this gas in the air must be looked for, in the first place, in the fact that the wind mixes the air of various localities together, and, in the second place, in the fact that the waters of the ocean, holding carbonic acid in solution,[31] form an immense reservoir for regulating the amount of this gas in the atmosphere. Immediately the partial pressure of the carbonic anhydride in the air decreases, the water evolves it, and when the partial pressure increases, it absorbs it, and thus nature supplies the conditions for a natural state of moving equilibrium in this as in so many other instances.[32]

Besides nitrogen, oxygen, moisture, and carbonic acid, all the other substances occurring in air are found in infinitesimally small quantities by weight, and therefore the weight of a cubic measure of air depends, to a sensible degree, on the above-named components alone. We have already mentioned that at 0° and 760 mm. pressure the weight of a cubic litre of air is 1·293 gram. This weight varies with the acceleration of gravity, g, so that if g be expressed in metres the weight of a litre of air, e = g × 0·131844 gram. For St. Petersburg g is about 9·8188, and therefore e is about 1·2946,[33] the air being understood to be dry and free from carbonic anhydride. Taking the amount of the latter as 0·03 per 100 volumes, we obtain a greater weight; for example, for St. Petersburg e = 1·2948 instead of 1·2946 gram. The weight of one litre of moist air in which the tension[34] of the aqueous vapour (partial pressure) = f mm., at a pressure (total) of air of H millimetres, at a temperature t, will be (i.e., if at 0° and 760 mm. the weight of dry air = e) equal to e / 1 + 0·00367t × H - 0·38f / 760 . For instance, if H = 730 mm., t = 20°, and f = 10 mm. (the moisture is then slightly below 60 p.c.), the weight of a litre of air at St. Petersburg = 1·1527 gram.[35]

The presence of ammonia, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, in the air, is indicated by the fact that all acids exposed to the air absorb ammonia from it after a time. De Saussure observed that aluminium sulphate is converted by air into a double sulphate of ammonium and aluminium, or the so-called ammonia alum. Quantitative determinations have shown that the amount of ammonia[36] contained in air varies at different periods. However, it may be accepted that 100 cubic metres of air do not contain less than 1 or more than 5 milligrams of ammonia. It is remarkable that mountain air contains more ammonia than the air of valleys. The air in those places where animal substances undergoing change are accumulated, and especially that of stables, generally contains a much greater quantity of this gas. This is the reason of the peculiar pungent smell noticed in such places. Moreover ammonia, as we shall learn in the following chapter, combines with acids, and should therefore be found in air in the form of such combinations, since air contains carbonic and nitric acids.

The presence of nitric acid in air is proved without doubt by the fact that rain-water contains an appreciable amount of it.

Further (as already mentioned in Chapter IV.), air contains ozone and hydrogen peroxide and nitrous acid (and its ammonia salt), i.e. substances having a direct oxidising action (for instance, upon iodized starch-paper), but they are present in very small quantities.[37]

Besides substances in a gaseous or vaporous state,[38] there is always found a more or less considerable quantity of substances which are not known in a state of vapour. These substances are present in the air as dust. If a linen surface, moistened with an acid, be placed in perfectly pure air, then the washings are found to contain sodium, calcium, iron, and potassium.[39] Linen moistened with an alkali absorbs carbonic, sulphuric, phosphoric, and hydrochloric acids. Further, the presence of organic substances in air has been proved by a similar experiment. If a glass globe be filled with ice and placed in a room where are a number of people, then the presence of organic substances, like albuminous substances, may be proved in the water which condenses on the surface of the globe. It may be that the miasmas causing infection in marshy localities, hospitals, and in certain epidemic illnesses proceed from the presence of such substances in the air (and especially in water, which contains many micro-organisms), as well as from the presence of germs of lower organisms in the air as a minute dust. Pasteur proved the existence of such germs in the air by the following experiment:—He placed gun-cotton (pyroxylin), which has the appearance of ordinary cotton, in a glass tube. Gun-cotton is soluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol, forming the so-called collodion. A current of air was passed through the tube for a long period of time, and the gun-cotton was then dissolved in a mixture of ether and alcohol. An insoluble residue was thus obtained which actually contained the germs of organisms, as was shown by microscopical observations, and by their capacity to develop into organisms (mould, &c.) under favourable conditions. The presence of these germs determines the property of air of bringing about the processes of putrefaction and fermentation—that is the fundamental alteration of organic substances, which is accompanied by an entire change in their properties. The appearance of lower organisms, both vegetable and animal, is always to be remarked in these processes. Thus, for instance, in the process of fermentation, when, for example, wine is procured from the sweet juice of grapes, a sediment separates out which is known under the name of lees, and contains peculiar yeast organisms. Germs are required before these organisms can appear.[40] They are floating in the air, and fall into the sweet fermentable liquid from it. Finding themselves under favourable conditions, the germs develop into organisms; they are nourished at the expense of the organic substance, and during growth change and destroy it, and bring about fermentation and putrefaction. This is why, for instance, the juice of the grape when contained in the skin of the fruit, which allows access of the air but is impenetrable to the germs, does not ferment, does not alter so long as the skin remains intact. This is also the reason why animal substances when kept from the access of air may be preserved for a great length of time. Preserved foods for long sea voyages are kept in this way.[41] Hence it is evident that however infinitesimal the quantity of germs carried in the atmosphere may be, still they have an immense significance in nature.[42]

Thus we see that air contains a great variety of substances. The nitrogen, which is found in it in the largest quantity, has the least influence on those processes which are accomplished by the action of air. The oxygen, which is met with in a lesser quantity than the nitrogen, on the contrary takes a very important part in a number of reactions; it supports combustion and respiration, it brings about decomposition and every process of slow oxidation. The part played by the moisture of air is well known. The carbonic anhydride, which is met with in still smaller quantities, has an immense significance in nature, inasmuch as it serves for the nourishment of plants. The importance of the ammonia and nitric acid is very great, because they are the sources of the nitrogenous substances comprising an indispensable element in all living organisms. And, lastly, the infinitesimal quantity of germs also have a great significance in a number of processes. Thus it is not the quantitative but the qualitative relations of the component parts of the atmosphere which determine its importance in nature.[43]

Air, being a mixture of various substances, may suffer considerable changes in consequence of incidental circumstances. It is particularly necessary to remark those changes in the composition of air which take place in dwellings and in various localities where human beings have to remain during a lengthy period of time. The respiration of human beings and animals alters the air.[44] A similar deterioration of air is produced by the influence of decomposing organic substances, and especially of substances burning in it.[45] Hence it is necessary to have regard to the purification of the air of dwellings. The renewal of air, the replacing of respired by fresh air, is termed ‘ventilation,’[46] and the removal of foreign and injurious admixtures from the air is called ‘disinfection.’[47] The accumulation of all kinds of impurities in the air of dwellings and cities is the reason why the air of mountains, forests, seas, and non-marshy localities, covered with vegetation or snow, is distinguished for its freshness, and, in all respects, beneficial action.

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